NY Police Officer Critically Wounded in Hatchet Attack

Local Editor

A hatchet-wielding attacker charged a group of New York City police officers posing for a photograph on Thursday, and wounded two, one critically, before the assailant was shot dead, police said.

The officers were on foot patrol when they were asked by a freelance photographer to pose for a picture on a Queens street, a New York Police Department spokesman said.

A man carrying a hatchet suddenly charged the officers, swinging it and striking one officer in the right arm and then swinging it again and striking a second officer in the head, the spokesman said. The remaining two officers fired their weapons at the man, hitting him.

Also, a 29-year-old female bystander was struck by a stray bullet. She underwent surgery and was recovering at the hospital, the spokesman added.

The suspect, whose identity was not yet confirmed but who was said to be approximately 32 years old, was pronounced dead at the scene.

"At this point, no known motive for this attack has been established," Police Commissioner William Bratton told a press conference.

Police declined to comment on media reports that the attack was tied to "terrorism" and that an internal memo urged officers to maintain a heightened level of awareness in the wake of recent attacks in Canada.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team